Wednesday, April 01, 2015

Standouts
Teen: 37 Things I Love (in no particular order) by Kekla Magoon
This was a lovely, melancholic story about a girl coming to terms with all manner of changes in her life, including her own romance with another girl and her comatose father.
Tween: Smek for President! by Adam Rex
I read the first book (The True Meaning of Smekday) years ago, so I was worried I wouldn't be able to remember the story. Groundless fears. There was much fun to be had here and some answers to some dangling threads from the first book.
Children: Battle Bunny by Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett, ill. Matthew MyersOkay,
it's shelved as a picture book, but I classified it for early elementary anyway
because of the interplay between the traditional text and the additions
made by the young creator/birthday boy. Not only will it resonat
e with
kids already starting to react to and think about narrative, it actually is
something of a challenge to follow both stories.

Because I Want To Awards
Unexpectedly Serious in Places: Eighth Grade is Making Me Sick by Jennifer L. Holm
As the subtitle promises, this is a novel told in stuff: IM chats, notes, report cards. Not a scrap of traditional prose, narration, or dialogue to be found. Holm works in themes of family strife, economic woes, new sibling stress, and illness without losing the warm and realistic feel.
Really Strange Cameos: Lying Out Loud by Kody Keplinger
I loved 98% of this book, which shows Keplinger's deft touch with flawed characters (and the guy is biracial and shown on the cover! Score!) My beef? The weird cameos from the couples of other books. That was just . . . odd.
Hoping This Found a New Home: The Case of the Devil's Interval by Emily Butler
Originally slated to be published by Egmont, this funny, bouncy ghost story/murder mystery with a delightfully sarcastic and no-nonsense ghostly protagonist was orphaned when Egmont folded. I've heard that Lerner bought up about 100 of Egmont's titles; I'm hoping this was one of them.